Showing posts with label Design. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Design. Show all posts

Sunday, 18 September 2011

Universal Design

I am a great believer in universal design.  The design principles for all design is the same.  Look for these in graphic design, furniture, industrial design, interior design, architecture and landscape architecture.  Know design.  Continue to learn design for your full career and look towards all creative industries for inspiration.  I try to follow this simple rule of mine.

Take the new EQ3 catalogue I was recently flipping through.  This couch drew my eye.

Along with the clean lines which is a person favourite, it made me think about proportions.  What works?  As always there's the golden rule of thirds that is a good one.  It's a quick sketch but here's a breakdown of the some of the lines that drew my eye.  
I'm not even going to touch the symmetry of the couch.  For another day.  But let's take those lines and transform them into something that landscape architects will design.  A bench.  Here's a quick sketch of a bench that I've seen around.  I've also seen this design as a coffee table.

 Clean lines broken down into thirds to make a clean good looking bench.  The bench could be even closer to the couch if the arms were pulled to edge and maybe a back was added.

Find these universal design principles everywhere.  It will make a difference in how you look at design.

Wednesday, 13 July 2011

Unexpected Influences for Landscape Details

A co-worker pointed out to me recently the interesting similarity in the Landscape Forms product 'Show' in their Metro Line with the iPhone.  Take a look.


I can't say if the iPhone did influence that line of products for Landscape forms, but it is an interesting comparison, and something I hadn't thought of before.  A small digital smartphone influencing large common objects in the landscape.  Looking at it now, it makes sense.  Smart phones are becoming the single most used object in a person's life.  If we are used to and comfortable with a form, than we will be comfortable when we see a similar form in the world around us.  And I bet it won't be long until that subway or transit map is interactive becoming essentially a very large smartphone with one app, Maps. 

I'm keeping my eyes wide open for patterns in design influence from now on.